NASA confirms that the summer of 2023 was the hottest on record

NASA has officially confirmed that the summer of 2023 was the hottest in the past 140 years, since record-keeping began in 1880. The months of June, July, and August combined were 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than any other summer on record.

When the entire historical data is analyzed, it becomes evident that a significant change occurred between 1951 and 1980, and since then, temperatures have been consistently rising.

The previous three months were 2.1 degrees F (1.2 C) warmer than the mid-20th-century baseline.

This data point is quite remarkable from a statistical and scientific perspective. If we didn’t have prior knowledge of the climate trends that emerged around four decades ago, we would consider 2023 to be an exceptional and rare event, occurring once in a century.

However, such extreme occurrences have become increasingly frequent in the past two decades, rendering terms like “once-in-a-century” meaningless when it comes to weather events. We have witnessed severe storms, heavy rainfall, devastating floods, raging wildfires, heatwaves, and droughts. And to make things worse, these events seem to repeat themselves within a few years.

As a writer, I have discussed these extreme milestones numerous times in the past decade. My instinct is to ask myself, “what’s new or different this time?” It may seem like a simple question, but it is not. The fact that it’s getting hotter is not new or interesting to people.

However, part of my job is to grab your attention. Besides being the business model of online media, I am also motivated to write about this new climate milestone instead of other topics, like fake alien fossils circulating the internet. I enjoy the challenge.

So, what is truly new or different in this increasingly hotter world? In recent years, I have been struck by the scale, intensity, and frequency of heatwaves, wildfires, heavy rainfall, and flooding events. We have witnessed exceptional events, such as British Columbia experiencing temperatures exceeding 120 degrees F (49 degrees C) and towns being ravaged by sudden fires.

It is nothing short of extraordinary to see Canada reaching Death Valley-like temperatures. However, what’s different this time is the normalization of these unusual events. What was once unlikely has become routine.

What’s both new and familiar this time is the devastation striking an unexpected location: the typically wet Maui in Hawaii experiencing a destructive wildfire, a tragedy of historic proportions.

What’s new and the same this time is the realization that no place is immune. Even our cherished resorts and places of fond memories can turn into nightmares in an instant.

What’s different this time? What’s new? What will make people care? These questions are essential but somewhat foolish.

What’s different is that everything is always different now. The rising temperatures are an ongoing reality that will continue for the rest of our lives. We have reached a point where the warming is inevitable, and we are locked into a new normal. This new normal isn’t just about heat; it signifies the long-term disruption of equilibrium.

Imagine a pot of water sitting at room temperature on a stove. It remains stable at equilibrium. Let’s call this pot of water “1951.” Now, put a flame underneath it, and it starts to heat up, bubble, and become less stable until it reaches a boiling point, transforming into a completely different state.

But this transformation doesn’t occur instantly; it takes time for a full pot of water to boil. Now, visualize a pot the size of Earth going through the same process. The timescale is not a matter of minutes but perhaps several centuries. And this is exactly where we find ourselves. We have left equilibrium behind. It is unlikely that we will be able to reduce the heat within our lifetimes. Our best hope now is to slow down the acceleration, reverse the trend for the sake of future generations, and focus on adaptation.

Adapting to this reality is quite challenging. For countless years, humans lived in a climate that occasionally experienced anomalies but generally maintained a baseline. Now, we have departed from that equilibrium and find ourselves on a path where anomalies constantly compete with each other as we hurtle towards an uncertain future.

So, what’s new and different this time? The answer is everything. And this will likely be the case for the rest of your life.